Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1887-09-15

la,rne, ana looked over the wall into the
camp. Instantly the hnman snake VINO
was stalking him glided on ten yards and
got behind one of the tussocks o. the this
tle-lke plant, reaching it rs the ElmOran
turned again As he turned, his eye fell
upon this patch of thistles, aad 1t seemed
to strike him that it did not looi quite
right. He advanced pace toward it.
halted, yawned, stopped down. picked mp a
little pebble and threw it at it. 1t hit I'M
slopogaas upon the head, luckily not upon
the armor-shirt. Had it done so, the clink
would have betrayed us. Luckily, too, the
shirt was brown and not bright steel, which
would certainly have been detected. APP
parently satisfied that there was nothing
wrong, he then gave over his Investigations,
and contented himself with leaning on his
spear and standing gazing idly at the tut.
For at least three minutes cd he stand
thus, plunged, apparently, into a gentle
reverle; and there we lay in the last ex-
tremlty of anxiety, expecting every moment
that we should be discovered or that some
untoward accident would happen. / could
hear Alphonse's teeth going like anything
on the oiled rag, and, turning my head
round, made an awful face at him.. But |
am bound to state that my own heart was
ct much the same game as the Frenchman's
castaHets, while the perspiration was pour
ing from my body, causing the waSh-leath-
er-lined shirt to stick to me unpleasantly:
and altogether I was in the pitiable state
known by school-boys as ssblue funk
AT last the ordeal came to an end The
sentry glanced at the east, and appeared tc
note with satisfaction that his period of
duty was coming to an end-as indeed it
was, once and for all-for he rubbed his
hands and began to walk again briskly, to
warm himself
The moment his back was turned, the
long, black snake glided on again, and
reached the other thistle tuft, which was
within q couple of PAGES of his return beat
Back came the sentry, and strolled right
past the tuft, utterly unconscious Of the
presence that was crouching behind it.
Had he looked down he could scarcely
have failed to see; but he did not do So
He passed; and then his hidden enemy
erected himself, and with outstretched
hand followed in his tracks.
A moment more, and, just as the Elmor-
an was about to turn, the great Zulu made
o. spring, and in the growing light we could
see the long, lean hands close round the
Masai's throat. Then followed q convul-
sive twining of the two dark bodies, and
il another second / saw the Masai's head
bent back, and heard sharp crack, some
thing ike that Of a dry twig swapping, and
he fell down upon the ground, his limbs
moving systematically.
Umslopogaa. had put out all his iron
strength and broken the warriors neck.
For q moment he knelt upon his victim,
still gripping his throat till he was sure
that there was nothing more to fear from
him, and then he rose and beckoned to us
to advance, which we did on all tours, like a
colony of huge apes On reaching the kraal
we Eaw that the Nasal had still further
choked this entrance, which was about ten
feet wide, no doubt in order to guard
against attack, by dragging four or five
tops of mimosa trees up to it. So much the
better for us, I reflected; the more obstruc-
ton there was, the slower would they be
able to come through. Here we separated;
Mackenzie and his party creeping up I'M
der the shadow of the wall to the left.
while Sir Henry and Umslopogaas took
their stations, one on each side of the thorn
fence. the two spearmen and the Askari
lying down in front of it, I and my men
crept on up the right side of the kraal,
which was about fifty PAGES long
When I was two-thirds up halted, and
placed my men at distances of four PAGES
from one another, keeping Alphonse close
to me, however. Then I peeped for the
first time over the wall It was getting
fairly light now, and the first thing I saw
was the white donkey, exactly opposite to
me, and close by it / could make out little
E1oCciotc r,o1Q faca ciTtinp no JaI Il
described, some ten PAGES from the wall.
Round her lay many warriors, sleeping.
At distances all over the surface of the
kraal were the remains of fires, round each
Of which slept some five-and-twenty Nasal,
for the most part gorged with food. Now
and then man would raise himself,
yawn. and look at the east, which had now
turned primrose; but none got up. I de-
termined to wait another five minutes,
both tQ~allow the lightto increase, so that
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pug 4s9IoJ pug u!gId LaAo 7IqueIu SU!u9pIM
-IeA9 leu MoLq4 o. ugS7q uMgp 4e!nb eqL
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o. A4!un4Ioddo EIeAe-Su!Jpou Ieeq 10 eos
pInoo [ uuoqM Jo-GlIed STU pUe poop eA!S
OF pue 'SuHoogs Jel4eq eYeW pInoo eM
risen sun lit upon his heaven-kissing crest
and purpled it with blood; the sky above
grew blue, and tender as a mothers smile;
bird began to pipe his morning song, and
a little breeze passing through the bush
shook down the dewdrops in millions to
refresh the waking world. Everywhere
was peace and the happiness OF arising
strength, everywhere save in the heart OF
cruel mani Suddenly, just as | was nerv-
ing myself for the signal, having already
selected my man on whom meant to open
fire-a great fellow spraWlng on the
ground within three feet Of little Flossie-
Alphonse's teeth began to chatter again
like the hoofs of a galloping giraffe, max
ing great noise in the silence. His rag
had dropped out in the agitation of his
mind. Instantly Nasal within three
PAGES of us woke, and sitting up, began to
gaze about him, looking for the cause OF
the sound. Moved beyond myself, I brought
the butt-end OF my rife down on to the pit
Of the Frenchman's stomach. This stopped
his chattering; but as he doubled up, he
managed to let off his gun in such a man
ner that the bullet passed within an inch
Of my head.